Weather indicator



June 29, 1937. H, RRY 2,085,081

WEATHER INDICATOR Filed Feb. 17, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 29, 1937. CURRY 2,085,081

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arena rice WEATHER liClt'liiliEt Manfred H. (Curry, Munich, Germany Application February 17, 1934, Serial No. illfidti In Geany Jiune 28, 1933 110 Claims.

The invention relates to weather indicators wherein use is made of chemical reagents which change their color in response to changes of temperature'and atmospheric humidity.

With the indicators of this kind heretofore proposed the user must relay on his own judgment in estimating changes of color undergone by the reagents, and this can rarely be done with any substantial degree of precision.

According to my invention this defect is overcome by using two plates, movable in relation to each other and having markings and inscriptions which can be correlated by adjustment, with the reagent or reagents applied to one of these plates and the other plate bearing fields of various colors assumed by the reagent or reagents, so that the similarity between the color of the reagent, at any given time, and the color of one of the fields affords a guide to the user, in setting the instrument.

The invention is illustrated in the annexed drawings, showing two examples in Figs. 1 and 2 and in Figs. 3 and 4 respectively.

Referring first to the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the disc 8 shown in Fig. 1 has circles marked on its face, dividing the same into three concentric sections. The outer section is radially subdivided, and the subdivisions v bear inscriptions designating various meteorological conditions. The central section is subdivided by radial lines into five equal parts A, B, C, D and E (Fig. 1), which are of difierent colors, namely colors which the reagent to be referred to hereinafter assumes under different meteorological conditions. The inner section is radially subdivided, so that four subdivisions thereof face each of the five subdivisions of the central section, each of the said four subdivisions being marked with one of the letters N, E, S, W denoting the four cardinal points of the compass.

The disc I is rotatable, and upon it is mounted the disc 2 shown in Fig, 2, which is rotatable about the same axis. A sector 3 of the disc 2 carries the chemical reagent whose color changes with changes of temperature and humidity of the atmosphere. At the sides of the sector 3 the disc 2 has windows 4 registering with parts of the central concentric section of the disc l, and between these windows and the centre of the disc there is another window 5.

A third window 6 near the rim of the disc 2 exposes part of the outer section of the disc I, and there are windows 1 round the central part of the disc 2. At the centre there is a compass 8, the casing of which may with advantage serve as the pivot of both discs.

The manner of using the instrument is as follows. The disc 2 is rotated by hand till the windows 4 expose portions of the disc I which are of the color assumed by the sector 3 under the prevailing meteorological conditions. Then the disc 2 is adjusted so that the window (5 exposes whichever of the letters N, E, S, W facing the color field, denotes the direction of the wind at the time the reading is taken. The window 6 then exposes the inscription, on the disc l, which conveys the forecast.

The groups of letters NF, 8, W are preferably inscribed in the color of the color fields which they respectively face, in order to facilitate adjustment. The purpose of the windows l is merely to facilitate adjustment.

In the modification shown in Figs. 3 and d the disc 8 has an additional circular field with subdivisions bearing inscriptions denoting, alternately, rising and falling barometer. The disc 2 has a window 9 for viewing these inscriptions. The compass point field on the disc i is so subdivided, that there are two groups oi ietters N, E, S, W for each of the color fields A, B, C, D, and E (Fig. 3) on the disc, these two groups facing, respectively, an inscription indicating rising barometer and an inscription indicating falling barometer. By this means an additional adjustment can be made, for taking into account the tendency of the barometer.

A suitable reagent for use at ft is cobalt chloride although there are other salts such as copper, iron and nickel which change color as moisture is absorbed or given off. Cobalt chloride is blue when dry but as it absorbs moisture its color changes through various gradations to a salmon or pink when its absorptive capacity is reached and changes through various gradations back toward blue as moisture is absorbed from it by the air. w The color of the chemical depends upon the humidity of the air to which the reagent is exposed. Humidity is, of course, dependent to a certain extent on the temperature of the air as changes in temperature eflect the proportion or the percentage of moisture to the air in a given volume.

In the constructions shown in the drawings the upper disc is moved clockwise with increase in humidity and in the opposite direction with decrease in humidity to match the colored sections A, B, C, D and E with the chemical reagent 3. The direction of movement is, however, not an essential thing as the movement depends upon the position of the colored sections with respect to each other and with reference to the chemical reagent 3.

The coloring of the sections A, B, C, D and E and the wording and relative arrangement of the inscriptions designating different meteorological conditions is based on experience or observation of different weather conditions and the color assumed by the chemical reagent under Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:--

l. A weather indicator having in combination two superimposed circular plates movable in relation to each other, a chemical reagent whose color changes with humidity carried by the upper v plate, the lower plate being divided into a. plurality of concentric sections and each section being radially sub-divided, each sub-division in one section bearing an inscription designating a meteorological condition, each sub-division of another section being of a different color corresponding to a color to which the chemical reagent may change and each sub-division of a third section being marked with a letter representing a cardinal point of the compass, the upper plate having openings adapted to register with a sub-division of each section of the lower plate whereby a comparison of the color between the chemical reagent and a colored sub-division may be made and a meteorological condition indicated.

2. A weather indicator as claimed in claim 1 wherein each colored sub-division has associated therewith inscriptions indicating difierent barometric tendencies and wherein the upper plate has an opening through which said inscriptions are visible.

3. A weather indicator as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of the plates carries a compass for use in ascertaining wind directions.

4. A weather indicator as claimed in claim 1 wherein the colored sections have associated therewith inscriptions indicating different barometric tendencies and one of the plates carries a compass for use in ascertaining wind directions.

5. A weather indicator comprising a chart on which factors such as humidity and wind direction entering into various meteorological conditions are represented in coordinated relation, a

member carrying a chemical reagent whose color may change according to one of said factors, said member and said chart being relatively movable, a set of inscriptions on the chart describing various meteorological conditions and arranged in predetermined relations with the factor representations on the chart, and means carried by 1 said member for indicating the inscriptions to be cal conditions arranged on the plate in predetermined relations with the colored sections and wind indications, and means moving with the aforesaid member whereby movements of the member to compare the color of the reagent with the colored sections and the wind indications will indicate which of the aforesaid indications is to be read.

7. A weather indicator comprising a pair of superimposed plates, a chemical reagent whose color changes with humidity carried by the upper plate, a set of colored sections on the lower plate, each color corresponding to a color to which the chemical reagent may change, a set of indications of wind directions for each colored section, the upper plate having openings through which the colored sections and wind indications are visible and said upper plate being adjustable relative to the lower plate to compare the chemical reagent with any of the various colored sections, and a set of indicia of meteorological data correlated with the colored sections and the wind indications and exposed one at a time through an opening in the upper plate by relative adjustment of the plates.

8. A weather indicator comprising a plate, a

member adjustable relative to said plate, a chemical reagent whose color changes with humidity carried by said member, a plurality of colored sections on the plate, each color corresponding to a color to which the reagent may change, a set of representations of compass points on the plate associated with each colored section, a, set of inscriptions on the plate each describing a meteorological condition and positioned in predetermined correlations with the colored sections and compass point representations, and means carried by the adjustable member for indicating the inscription to be read when said member is adjusted to compare the reagent with a colored section at a compass point representation.

9. A weather indicator comprising a plate, a member adjustable relative to said plate, a chemical reagent whose color changes with humidity carried by said member, a plurality of colored sections on the plate, each color corresponding to a color to which the reagent may change, a set of representations of compass points on the plate associated with .each colored section, a plurality of representations of barometric tendencies also associated with each of the colored sections, a set of inscriptions on the plate each describing a meteorological condition and positioned in predetermined relations with the colored sections, the compass point representations and the representations of barometric tendencies, and means carried by the adjustable member for indicating the inscription to be read when said member is adjusted to compare the reagent with a colored section at a compass point representation and representation of a barometric tendency.

10. A weather indicator comprising supporting means carrying, in combination, a chemical reagent whose color changes with humidity, a set of representations of wind direction compass points, a set of representations of different meteorological conditions arising from different degrees of humidity and different wind directions, and colored sections correlated with the chemical reagent and with the representations of wind direction and the representations of meteorological conditions whereby indication of the meteorological condition which is to be read may be determined by comparing the colored sections with the color which has been assumed by the reagent.

MANFRED H. CURRY. 

